Everest fees cut in Nepal

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Hundreds of climbers attempt to the reach the 8,850m (29,035ft) summit each year, with the peak climbing season lasting from March until May.

Under current regulations, those tackling the mountain from Nepal, taking the same Southeast Ridge route as Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa did in 1953, must pay a fee of $25,000 per person to do so. However, a group of seven climbers can save thousands by purchasing a group permit for $70,000.

From next year, permits will be reduced to $11,000 per person, a move which – according to Tilakram Pandey of the Nepalese tourism ministry – will prevent climbers forming unnecessarily big groups.

"The change in royalty rates will discourage artificially formed groups, where the leader does not even know some of the members in him own team," Pandey said. "It will promote responsible and serious climbers."

But the move is also likely to raise concerns that overcrowding on the mountain – already considered a problem – could worsen.

More than 5,000 people have climbed Mount Everest since the historic first ascent in 1953, and nearly 250 have died on its slopes. Last year around 700 climbers reached the summit, and in May there were scenes of chaos reported as around 100 people tried to reach the top in a single day, with long queues forming around trickier sections. Rubbish is also a growing problem on the mountain. Mark Jenkins, covering the problem of overcrowding for National Geographic last year, reported “garbage leaking out of the glaciers and pyramids of human excrement befouling the high camps”.

Stephen Venables, the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen, suggested the reduction in fees was unlikely to have a major impact as “the majority of routes up Everest are in Tibet”.

He added: “$11,000 is still a hell of a lot of money to pay just to set foot on a mountain and, having learned my mountaineering in Europe, I find the whole idea of paying to go climbing complete anathema.

"However, it is encouraging that the Nepalese government is at least offering lower fees for climbers attempting Everest outside the peak spring season.”

Those heading to the summit from Tibet must pay a similarly high fee to Chinese authorities.

The new rates for Nepal will apply during the peak season. Permits on other routes and for the rest of the year, when the mountain is virtually deserted, will now cost as little as $2,500, to encourage off-season climbing, according to officials. The government also said it was considering regulations that require climbers to tackle lower peaks before attempting Everest.

Writing for Telegraph Travel last year Stephen Venables suggested that tourism had "devalued" Everest. "It used to be a prize earned through a long apprenticeship," he wrote. "Now, Everest has become the ultimate tick on the global adventure-tourism circuit."

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